Hundreds of cheap and cheerful smart-apartments to be built in Vienna

Over the next few years a new smart-apartment project will see the construction of hundreds of small apartments similar in price to community housing.

Vienna City Councillor for Housing Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) presented the plans for the construction of so-called "Smart-Apartments" (Smart-Wohnungen).

The developers' competition for the housing project has already taken place and 316 small apartments will be constructed in the "Sonnwendviertel" quarter next to the upcoming central railway station.

In the future around a third of all apartments in Vienna will belong to the "smart" category. This category will be made up of apartments which are much cheaper than classic housing association flats.

A typical two-room apartment of 55 quadratic metres will cost a gross amount of 409 euros to rent per month. In order to acquire such an apartment, potential tenants must also pay a contribution of 3,300 euros towards the construction work.

Though the apartments are indeed a bargain, they will not be built cheaply. The Housing Council has emphasised that builders will have to comply with building regulations and the apartments themselevs will have to follow a similar code.

All smart-apartments will be small and more importantly, variable. It will be possible to alter the floor plans of the apartments as well as the number of rooms, in some cases extending into attic spaces to achieve this. Ludwig said that the new smart-apartments are perfect for people who considered the previous housing market too expensive, particularly in light of increases in the standard cost of a quadratic metre which all tenancy agreements must satisfy.

The new housing option is ideal for people who have little savings and do not want to rack up credit - for example young people, single-parents or older people. Three different types of apartment will be built for the time being, ranging between 40 and 70 quadratic metres in floor area. The sale of the completed apartments will be managed by the Viennese Accommodation Service (Wohnservice).

The first smart-apartments will be available to rent from 2015, when the new central railway station is expected to be fully operational.

Following lack of progress made by talks between representatives of the Church, the charity Caritas and refugee activists at the Votiv Kirche in Vienna, protesters are set to stay camped outside the building.

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